About

€13,622

173

What is It’s a Woman’s World?

It’s a Woman’s World is a feminist a cappella album. We’re exploring all kinds of music with feminist themes and celebrating iconic female artists throughout the last thousand years.

Olga herself only has male singers. People ask us: “Why feminism? You’re men!” It’s simple - we’re doing this project because people often don’t expect men to care, and we want to reverse that expectation. We’re artists, and music is our platform, so we’ll use that platform to support feminism and inspire both women and men. #heforshe

You’ll hear crazy musical combos - artists like Hildegard von Bingen from the 12th century and Beyoncé from the 21st, two amazing women separated by hundreds of years but unified by music.

We’ll also feature songs that were super popular in their day, but only because everyone overlooked their built-in sexism. Whether it’s Mozart or Lou Bega, sometimes the story doesn’t change much over the centuries.

And to top it all off, four contemporary composers are writing music as we speak, specially for Olga. Each brings her own style and approach - we’ll have stories about Akka Mahadevi, a medieval Hindu saint, and a Requiem for a Glass Ceiling, featuring sexist quotes by influential people. Another piece has lyrics based on phrases from boys’ and girls’ clothes, showing the different gender-based expectations we create for our children. And then there’s a cabaret-comedy song about mansplaining.

All this for a male vocal ensemble called Olga. #itsawomansworld

Why Kickstarter?

Making albums is expensive! Kickstarter can go a long way in helping us make this CD happen and not going into debt while doing it. And this way we get to share our progress and our cool stuff with you all directly!

Where and When?

This November and December, we’re all in Holland, getting ready! Now we’re in the planning stages, and our composers are busy working their magic in Holland, Estonia, and Iceland.

In January and February 2018, we’ll be rehearsing and getting the music ready to go in Utrecht, the Netherlands. In January, we’ll also be sending out the thank-you postcards to all you lovely pledgers!

At the end of February 2018, we’ll head to Osnabrück, Germany to do a week of recording at the fantastic studios of Fattoria Musica. The studio is situated in the German countryside on a beautiful farm from 1878. We’ve booked the studio for five days, and we’ll stay at the farm the whole week. No distractions, just relaxing and making music together!

In March, we’ll get the mastering done and get the CDs on track for printing. In the meantime, we’ll send out the MP3 download links to our pledgers. Also, on March 8th, International Women’s Day, we’ll premiere the It’s a Woman’s World program live in concert in Tivoli-Vredenburg in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Gimme the Goodies!

So what are the special goodies you can get? :)

Well first of all, we’ll send you all a handwritten postcard. Then there will be a high-quality MP3 download, available March 2018. You can also get yourself a concert ticket to an Olga concert, anywhere in the world (we have to reach you first, of course). And for your bedroom decoration needs, you can get yourself a full-size poster.

And the new CD, signed by the Olga boys!

There will also be brand new Olga clothing available, with snazzy new t-shirts and a limited-edition (only through this campaign) Icelandic lopapeysa (sheep’s wool sweater), custom-knitted and fitted with Ketill Olguson on the front!

We’re also working on a production diary with exclusive behind-the-scenes photos and stories, to give you a better idea of what goes into the project - our inspiration, brainstorming, embarrassing moments, and other juicy morsels.

And for those of you who really outdo yourselves, there’s the option of a Skype concert, a vocal coaching / masterclass with your ensemble or choir, and even a private Olga concert.

Note:

We ship anywhere in the world.

We’ll start sending the stuff out in May 2018. Except the postcards and MP3s, they come sooner.

Delivery of masterclasses/vocal coachings and private concerts depends on when Olga's in your part of the world - hopefully we'll be touring your part of the world soon, but otherwise travel expenses are not included.

How much money do we need?

Who is Olga?

We’re five guys living in Holland, singing a cappella together. Olga’s been making music and touring the world since 2012.

Risks and challenges

You probably noticed that our budget of €16,000 is higher than our Kickstarter goal of €12,500. And that’s not even including all the rehearsal time. We thought this amount would be more achievable, and it’ll still be a huge help in creating our CD.

It’s of course a big risk for us to follow through with this project, and we’ll be a very poor ensemble indeed if the Kickstarter campaign doesn’t succeed. But we believe strongly in our musical feminist theme and in the need to put it out there into the world, so we’ll record the CD in any case. With your help, we'll keep the ensemble out of debt and instead busy bringing the music to you all.